Ontological metaphors as a tool for representation of concept ZORN in the German language

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of ontological metaphors, actualized for the conceptualization of anger in the German language. The vast majority of modern research into metaphorical representation of emotives are carried out on the example of structural metaphors, which undeservedly underscores the role of ontological metaphors, which belong to the earlier stage of categorization of the world in ontogenesis, and therefore require primary attention in the analysis of metaphorical conceptualization of basic emotions. Based on German lexicographic sources, the article reveals the main ontological metaphors involved in describing the emotions of anger. The first ontological metaphor ZORN IST CONTAINER describes anger as an object of the material world with an internal space into which an angry person is placed. The second conceptual metaphor ZORN IST SUBSTANZ interprets anger as a liquid or gaseous substance. This understanding of anger is usually combined with the MENSCH IST CONTAINER conceptual metaphor, creating the image of a person as a container that is filled with anger. The third version of the ontological metaphorization of the concept under consideration is ZORN IST WESEN. This conceptual metaphor represents anger either as an active agent, as an ontological unit that can generate a casual series of events (ZORN IST AKTIVES WESEN), or as an object that can be manipulated, or which is exposed to external forces (ZORN IST PASSIVES WESEN).